January/February Art: Jessica Eastburn

Malta
PALPITATIONS
Paintings by Jessica Eastburn

OPENING PARTY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8TH 7:00-9:00pm
Join us for warming drink specials and good company!

show runs January 8 – March 7, 2016
The Art…
This body of work encompasses paintings on paper and board comprised of arrangements of predominantly abstract forms that interact and intertwine to form all-over compositional patterns.  The works are first drawn out in a kind of freeform association process akin to stream of consciousness writing, only done here with shapes.  The palette is pre-determined, and the shapes are filled in to evoke semi-recognizable allusory connections between the natural world and the painted landscape.  The compositions are meant to be active, fun, and playful with an occasional hint of menace thrown in for good measure.  These paintings are a meditative experience wherein my only concerns are in representing motion, energy and the act of making.
The Artist…
Jessica Eastburn currently lives in Oakland, CA.  She received her BA in Liberal Studies from Portland State University and her MFA in Pictorial Art from San Jose State University.  She was born in the United States in the early 1980’s, and as such, she witnessed the consumerism excess of the end of the 20th century as well as the evolution of the rapidly advancing digital technology which has come to dominate and define contemporary life.  Her work responds to the information overload, which we all face in our daily lives, as she attempts to  channel this abundance into energy and movement.

Jessica’s work has been exhibited throughout the Bay Area as well as nationally. She is the recipient of a Creative Activity Grant from Portland State University and the Young Artist Fellowship from Gallery Route One. In 2014 she participated in the FISART street art festival in Timisoara, Romania. She is also a principle member of the Facing West Shadow Opera Company, which she co-founded with artist Lydia Greer.